Video poker odds.
What hits.
What pays.
With the best play on 9/6 Jacks or Better, 45.46% of hands pay something, but only 24.00% pay more than the bet.
A royal flush comes up once in 40,391 hands on average. Your own odds depend on the game, the pay table and the cards you keep. Start with the whole game, or enter a hand to check a draw.
Five-credit royal · the best hold every time · one hand at a time
How often does
each hand hit?
Pick the exact pay table. These are the chances of finishing on each hand when every deal is held the best way for that table. Show the deal as well to see how much the draw changes them.
52-card deck · royal pays 800 for 1 · best play on 9/6 Jacks or Better
| Final hand | Pays for 1 | On the deal | After the draw | Adds to the return |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Royal flush | 800 | 1 in 649,740 | 1 in 40,391 | 1.9807% |
| Straight flush | 50 | 1 in 72,193 | 1 in 9,148 | 0.5465% |
| Four of a kind | 25 | 1 in 4,165 | 1 in 423 | 5.9064% |
| Full house | 9 | 1 in 694 | 1 in 86.9 | 10.3610% |
| Flush | 6 | 1 in 509 | 1 in 90.8 | 6.6087% |
| Straight | 4 | 1 in 255 | 1 in 89.1 | 4.4917% |
| Three of a kind | 3 | 1 in 47.3 | 1 in 13.4 | 22.3346% |
| Two pair | 2 | 1 in 21 | 1 in 7.7 | 25.8558% |
| Pair of jacks, queens, kings or aces | 1 | 1 in 7.7 | 1 in 4.7 | 21.4585% |
| No payout | 0 | 1 in 1.3 | 1 in 1.8 | 0.0000% |
| The whole game | — | — | Every hand | 99.5439% |
Includes the hands that only return the bet
The payout is more than the bet
A long-run average, with the best play
54.5435% of hands pay nothing. 21.4585% return exactly the bet (pair of jacks, queens, kings or aces). A 1-for-1 payout breaks even; it is not a win.
Each final hand counts once: a royal is not counted again as a straight flush or a flush. A hand’s share of the return is its chance times its payout, so the last column adds up to the return, not to the chance of a win. Percentages and “1 in” figures are rounded.
What these figures assume
They come from the site’s solve of every possible deal and every possible draw for all 32 holds, keeping the hold with the highest average payout. Where two holds are worth exactly the same, the one keeping more cards counts; another tie-break can move a hand’s frequency slightly without changing the return.
Every pay table is shown in full. A royal pays 800 for 1 except on “9/6, under five credits,” where it pays 250. Joker Poker uses 53 cards, with a pair of kings as its lowest win. Deuces Wild uses 52 cards with all four 2s wild. The bonus fours are counted apart, so no award is counted twice.
They assume the best play, fair cards and one draw, and leave out extra-bet features, progressive jackpots and promotions. A matching game name is not enough: check every payout.
“1 in 423”
Four of a kind comes up about once in 423 hands of 9/6 Jacks or Better. That is an average rate, not a timetable: it does not promise four of a kind within 423 hands.
“25 for 1”
Four of a kind returns 25 times the bet in all. Take away the bet itself and you are 24 bets ahead. How much a hand pays and how often it comes are different numbers.
“99.54%”
Add up every hand’s chance times its payout. The total is the money paid back for every unit bet, including the rare big awards and the hands that pay nothing.
What are the odds
of your next draw?
A whole-game average can’t answer for one hand. Set all five cards, tap the ones you keep and see what can happen. Start with the made flush, then choose “Show best hold” to see why the most likely win can be the weaker choice.
Tap a card to hold or discard it. Use “Change card” to enter your own deal.
Holding A♠ K♠ Q♠ J♠ 3♠ · no cards drawn.
Getting just your bet back counts
More back than the bet
No payout at all
Paid back for 1 bet, stake included
Best average return: hold A♠ K♠ Q♠ J♠, returning 18.4255 per 1 bet. Your hold returns 6.0000. Choose “Show best hold” to see its odds.
Keeping the flush guarantees a payout. Drawing to the four royal cards can return nothing, but the rare big award makes its average return higher. The best chance of a payout and the best average are different goals.
Every final hand your hold can make
9/6 Jacks or Better · 1 possible outcome
| Final hand | Chance | Draws | Pays for 1 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Royal flush | 0.0000% | 0 | 800 |
| Straight flush (not royal) | 0.0000% | 0 | 50 |
| Four of a kind | 0.0000% | 0 | 25 |
| Full house | 0.0000% | 0 | 9 |
| Flush (not straight flush) | 100.0000% | 1 | 6 |
| Straight | 0.0000% | 0 | 4 |
| Three of a kind | 0.0000% | 0 | 3 |
| Two pair | 0.0000% | 0 | 2 |
| Pair of jacks, queens, kings or aces | 0.0000% | 0 | 1 |
| No payout | 0.0000% | 0 | 0 |
The counts cover the one possible outcome. The hands don’t overlap: a royal is not counted as a straight flush, and neither is counted as a flush. Percentages are rounded.
What this calculator assumes
One draw from a fair 52-card deck. Your new cards come from the 47 you were not dealt, so a card you throw away cannot come back. All 32 holds are priced exactly and the best is the one with the highest average payout; equal holds tie.
The royal pays 800 for 1, the five-credit rate. A 1-for-1 payout returns the bet; it is not a win. These are the odds for the cards and hold you choose, not the return of the game, with no wild cards, progressive jackpots, extra features or promotions.
Change the pay table to price the same hold again: its odds stay the same, while its payouts and the best hold can change. For Bonus Poker, Deuces Wild and the other games, use the strategy calculator
Count the cards
that can actually come back.
In a 52-card game, none of the five cards you were dealt can come back on the draw, which leaves 47. For one new card, divide your outs by 47. For two new cards, there are 1,081 equally likely pairs.
| You hold | Hoping for | Draws that make it | Chance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Four to a royal flushA♠ K♠ Q♠ J♠Throw away 3♦ | Royal flush | 1 of 47 | 2.1277% |
| Three to a royal flushK♥ Q♥ J♥Throw away 7♣ 3♠ | Royal flush | 1 of 1,081 | 0.0925% |
| Four to an open straight flush6♥ 7♥ 8♥ 9♥Throw away 2♣ | Straight flush | 2 of 47 | 4.2553% |
| Four to a flush2♥ 5♥ 8♥ 9♥Throw away K♣ | Flush | 9 of 47 | 19.1489% |
| Four to an open-ended straight5♣ 6♦ 7♥ 8♠Throw away K♦ | Straight | 8 of 47 | 17.0213% |
| Four to an inside straight5♣ 6♦ 8♥ 9♠Throw away K♦ | Straight | 4 of 47 | 8.5106% |
| Two pairJ♣ J♦ 4♣ 4♥Throw away 9♠ | Full house | 4 of 47 | 8.5106% |
| Three of a kind7♥ 7♣ 7♦Throw away K♠ 2♦ | Four of a kind | 46 of 1,081 | 4.2553% |
The card you throw away can take an out with it.
Four hearts leave nine hearts among the 47 unseen cards when the fifth card is another suit. If the fifth card was also a heart and you throw it away, only eight hearts remain. “Four to a flush” is not enough on its own; the calculator above uses the whole deal.
These are the odds of each draw, not advice to make it. The best hold weighs every hand a draw can make and what each pays, not just the one you are hoping for.
40,391 hands.
Still no royal?
That is quite possible. At 9/6 Jacks or Better’s royal rate, the chance of at least one royal in 40,391 hands is only 63.21%. More than a third of such runs have none.
Enter a whole number from 0 to 1,000,000.
The game is the same choice as in the table at the top. These are hands dealt one after another, each from a fresh deck, not hands that share one deal.
9/6 Jacks or Better · 40,391 fresh hands · best play
At least a 50% chance: 27,997 hands. At least a 90% chance: 93,002 hands.
Your next hand has no memory.
After a long dry spell, the next fresh hand still has a 1-in-40,391 chance of finishing as a natural royal on 9/6 Jacks or Better with the best play. Past losses do not make a royal due.
Count in hands, not hours.
Hours depend on your pace. At 1,000 hands an hour, 40,391 hands take about 40.4 hours. That is an example, not a recommended amount of play: a royal can come at once or stay away far longer.
The chance is 1 − (1 − p)N, where p is the chance of a natural royal on one hand of the chosen game and N the number of fresh hands. The average number is N × p; it is not a promise. Hands that share one deal need a different sum
The game that pays most often
isn’t always the best-paying game.
Pay tables change the best holds, and the holds change how often each hand comes, even though every game deals from the same deck. Compare the return, how often a game pays and the size of its rare awards separately.
| Game and pay table | Any payout | A win on the hand | Natural royal | Return |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9/6 Jacks or Better | 45.46% | 24.00% | 1 in 40,391 | 99.5439% |
| 8/5 Jacks or Better | 45.50% | 23.99% | 1 in 40,170 | 97.2984% |
| 8/5 Bonus Poker | 45.51% | 23.99% | 1 in 40,233 | 99.1660% |
| 10/7 Double Bonus, straight pays 5 | 43.29% | 11.58% | 1 in 48,048 | 100.1725% |
| 9/6 Double Double Bonus | 44.72% | 11.28% | 1 in 40,799 | 98.9808% |
| Full-pay Deuces Wild | 45.32% | 16.87% | 1 in 45,282 | 100.7620% |
Pick a game to open its full table at the top of the page.
8/5 can pay a little more often, and return less.
8/5 Jacks or Better pays something on 45.50% of hands, against 45.46% for 9/6. Yet its return with the best play falls from 99.54% to 97.30%. Paying slightly more often doesn’t make up for the smaller full house and flush.
“Four of a kind” can mean something else.
Without wild cards, four of a kind takes four real cards of one rank. In Deuces Wild the 2s fill in: in full-pay Deuces Wild you finish on four of a kind once in 15.4 hands, against once in 423 in 9/6 Jacks or Better, and it pays 5 for 1 instead of 25. Compare the whole pay table, not the names of the hands.
What about a return over 100%?
A few exact pay tables return more than 100% with the best play: of the 21 here, 10/7 Double Bonus (100.17%), 10/6 Double Double Bonus (100.07%), Full-pay Deuces Wild (100.76%) and 20/7/5 Joker Poker (100.65%). That doesn’t mean you will find them where you play, or that a short session will win. The whole pay table and the strategy both matter.
A hand, a payout,
or a winning session?
What are the odds of winning at video poker?
First decide what “winning” means. On 9/6 Jacks or Better with the best play, 45.46% of final hands pay something, 21.46% return exactly the bet and 24.00% leave you ahead on the hand. None of those is the chance of finishing a session ahead, which depends on the stake, how long you play, the swings, the strategy and when you stop.
What are the odds of a royal flush?
A royal is dealt in the first five cards once in 649,740 deals. With the best play on 9/6 Jacks or Better and the full royal payout, you finish on one once in 40,391 hands. Holding four to a royal is a different question: if the card you need is still in the deck, it is 1 of the 47 you can draw.
Does a 99.54% return mean I lose only 46 cents per $100?
It means an average loss of about $0.46 for every $100 bet over the long run, with the best play on that pay table. The money bet includes winnings you play again. It does not mean a $100 deposit shrinks by just 46 cents, or that any one session will be close to the average.
Why do the odds change when the pay table changes?
The cards come from the same deck, but the best hold can change. With K♠ Q♠ J♠ 7♠ 2♦, 9/6 Jacks or Better keeps K♠ Q♠ J♠, while 10/7 Double Bonus, where a flush pays 7, keeps the four spades. Different holds make different final hands. Keep the same cards from the same deal and the draw’s odds stay the same; only what they pay changes.
Can a card I throw away come back?
No, not in the one-draw games covered here. All five cards you were dealt are out of the draw. A 52-card game draws from the other 47; Joker Poker, with 53 cards, from 48. That is why exact odds need the cards you throw away as well as the ones you keep.
Does playing 100 hands guarantee a royal sooner?
No. It gives you more final hands for each deal, but they all share their first five cards. Even after holding four to a royal, 100 separate draws make at least one royal 88.36% of the time and none at all 11.64% of the time. Don’t use the fresh-hands calculator above for 100 hands copied from one deal. See how multi-hand odds work.
Should I choose the hold with the best chance of a payout?
The best strategy goes for the highest average return, not the most frequent payout. A made flush guarantees a payout, but a four-card royal draw is worth more on average, even though it sometimes pays nothing. The draw calculator shows both the chances and the average, so you can compare them.
Does a royal get more likely after a long losing streak?
No. Before each fresh deal, the chances are the same for the same game and strategy. Once the new cards are in front of you the chance changes, because you know more, not because the game owes you a win.
Why do two accurate odds charts sometimes differ slightly?
They may use different pay tables, royal payouts, strategies or rounding. Some holds are worth exactly the same but lead to different final hands; the tables here keep more cards when two holds tie. Check whether a chart counts natural royals separately, groups the bonus fours together, or counts getting the bet back as a win.
You know the chance.
Now check the choice.
What the odds tell you.
Three things worth knowing before you play.
Most hands lose
Even played perfectly, 54.54% of hands at 9/6 Jacks or Better pay nothing, and another 21.46% only return the bet.
The royal is rare, and worth 1.98%
It comes once in 40,391 hands, about 40 hours at 1,000 an hour, and adds 1.98% to the 99.54% return.
The pay table sets the odds
The deck is the same in every game, but the right holds are not. At 10/7 Double Bonus the royal comes once in 48,048 hands, because its best play chases flushes instead.